This application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application Serial No. 090121962 filed on Sep. 5, 2001.
The present invention relates to an input apparatus for use with electrical and electronic devices.
In past few years, the sales of personal digital assistants (PDA) have rapidly increased. The appearance and functionality of PDAs are two important features making these relatively new devices so popular.
Most PDAs are smaller and lighter than conventional computers, and are therefore convenient to carry and hold for portability. Additionally, PDAs typically have a large-scale monitor to allow the user to easily read displayed information.
Functionally, PDAs store large amounts of data that the user may systematically manage using built-in software. Frequently, the user can easily retrieve data or update via a personal computer. PDAs also frequently connect to the Internet to exchange information. In addition, PDAs provide additional functions, such as dictionaries, games, calendar managers, etc. that improve the efficiency of daily work.
Several issues relating to PDAs still exist, however, such as the input interface used to input data directly and manually. There are two kinds of input interfaces generally used by conventional PDAs. The first one is a digital tablet on the PDA display, and the other is a voice input sensor. Both input interfaces are convenient for inputting a small amount of data. However, they are generally unsuitable for inputting a large amount of data due to the inconvenience of entering large amounts of text on a non-standard interface. Moreover, the recognition accuracy of these input approaches is not perfect, occasionally leading to data entry errors.
Further, PDAs frequently need to connect and cooperate with additional functional modules such as global positioning systems (GPS), digital cameras, cellular phones, MP3 players, and the like. With the additional functional modules cooperating with PDA, the overall size of PDA increases thus limiting the convenience and expandability of most PDAs.
One aspect of various embodiments of the present invention provides an input apparatus for cooperating with an electrical device such as a PDA to input data.
Another aspect provides an input apparatus cooperating with electrical devices having different sizes.
A further aspect provides an input apparatus including a constraint device and corresponding release device to prevent the personal digital assistant and the input device from separation.
According to various embodiments, the input apparatus suitably includes a housing, an input interface, and a cap. The housing may include a front plate, a bottom plate, and two side portions, with the cap disposed between the two side portions. The cap and the housing together form a first space to contain an electrical device with a smaller size when the cap is positioned in a top position. Also, the cap may be moved to a bottom position to form a second space for containing an electrical device with a larger size.
The input interface can be disposed on the front plate. The input interface may be a keyboard, joystick, handwriting recognition device, digital plate, or the like.
Further embodiments of the input apparatus also include an interface having at least one connector for electrically connecting to the electrical device. The interface may also include a constraint device to prevent the input apparatus and the electrical device from separating. The input apparatus may further include a release device corresponding to the constraint device to release the constraint device.